A step towards “smart” energy
Ukraine joins EU Sustainable Energy Week for the first timeFour Ukrainian cities — Kyiv, Lviv, Poltava, and Kovel — continue to discuss energy conservation, including the introduction of power-saving heating systems, the technologies of building “passive” housing, alternative sources of energy, environment-friendly fuels, etc. They are holding this broad-based debate to mark the EU Sustainable Energy Week, held on April 11 to 16. Incidentally, this is the first time Ukraine has joined this energy-related tradition of Europe.
Conversely, Europeans have been marking this “smart energy” week for six years already, since 2005. Over the past six years, this has been one of Europe’s main events in promoting sustainable energy. It is estimated that this year’s week involved about 30,000 participants inside and outside Europe under the slogan “Smart Energy for a Sustainable Future.” As usual, the main theme is energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy. Quite a few events will also be devoted to the European energy market and “smart” electrical grids.
The fact that Ukraine has joined the marking of this Week is a predictable step if you view it through the prism of recent events in the Ukraine-EU energy dialogue. It will be recalled that Gabriel Blanc, sector manager for energy efficiency and renewable energy at the EU Delegation to Ukraine, recently announced that 70 million euros would soon be allocated to Ukraine for carrying out energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. He singled out the prospects of implementing a budget-funded support project agreed upon as long ago as December 2009. Out of the allotted 70 million euros, 63 million will go to state budget revenues, while the remaining 7 million will be aimed at increasing the technical capacity of Ukraine’s National Agency for Efficient Use of Energy Resources (NAER).
Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine, emphasized that the energy consumption index in Ukraine was three times as high as in EU states. To reverse this trend, the UE Delegation has initiated public debates as part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week, the main goal of which is to make the public aware of the importance of “smart” energy consumption.
In addition, the EU Delegation and its partners gathered representatives of the government, environmental organizations, business people, and the international community at a conference hall in Kyiv on April 13-14 for a roundtable debate. The conference was opened by Jose Manuel Pinto Teixeira, head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine, and Mykola Pashkevych, chair of Ukraine’s National Agency for Efficient Use of Energy Resources. Among the guests were representatives of the Energy Cities European association, the Association of Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine, local government bodies, the European companies that deal with energy conservation projects, and the public.
Read the upcoming issues of The Day for more details on the results of the conference and the roundtable, the experience of Ukrainian cities in energy efficiency, the European experience in pursuing a sustainable energy policy at the city level, and the IFC programs to attract investments in increasing energy efficiency in Ukraine.
